Jonathan Vigh's 2006 Pikes Peak Marathon Race Report

Introduction

    So, I tried to keep this from becoming the longest race report ever, but there was a lot for me to analyze about this race and my performance. I wish I could say it was the perfect race, but it was not. I improved nearly 15 minutes over last year's time, so it wasn't a total failure by any means, but overall I feel that my race performance did not match my trained potential. So in this report, I've tried to record my memories and some important notes for future reference, in case I ever run this race again (quite likely!). Please feel free to skim past the uninteresting parts of this report - if nothing else, you can enjoy the pictures. If you'd like all the gruesome details of this race autopsy, sit back and enjoy! 

Pre-race

Ascent

Summit

Descent

Post-race

Results

Link to official race results

Ascent:  3:15:22 (3:29 faster than last year)      Descent:  1:53:09 (9:45 faster than last year - but last year's descent time included about 5 min spent on top)      Total:  5:08:31 (14:13 faster than last year).

9 out of 32 in my age group (M25-29) (last year was 10 out of 34)

44 out of 528 runners (last year I was 69 out of 630 overall male runners)

53 out of 698 runners who finished under the 10-h cutoff time (9 female runners ran faster than my overall time)

(last year, I was 81 out of 882 overall runners - 11 female runners ran faster than my overall time)

This year I passed 9 men and 0 women on the way down, but I was passed by a total of 4 men and 5 women (all top-10 winners!) on the way down.

49 males and 11 females ran faster downhill splits than me this year - since I came in 44th overall, this either reflects my difficulties on the downhill, or hints that I perhaps went up too fast.

My time to Barr Camp was roughly 1:37:00 (exactly on pace with last year's time at this point)

On the way down, I reached Barr Camp at about 4:07 (13 min ahead of last year's pace by this point).

Things done right

Trained hard. Ran 30 miles more per month than last year in both June and July. During July, I gained a total of 60,000 vertical feet of running and hiking!

Tapered well. I might have gone a bit easier earlier in the week, as I didn't feel that my sharpening work helped at all (since this race is mostly aerobic, I'm not sure what the benefit of last minute sharpening is). Also, I think it might be better to do my full distance Pikes training run 4 weeks before the race instead of 3 weeks before. Nevertheless,  I think my taper was pretty adequate - I don't feel that these factors played a big factor in my performance this year - other issues such as cramping had a much larger impact on my time.

Only spent about 20 sec on top instead of last year's 5 min. I didn't change socks and therefore didn't have to deal with the cramping issue like in 2003 and 2004.

I wore good clothes for the weather - I wasn't too cold or too warm and wasn't carrying extra weight (besides a pair of very lightweight glove which I didn't need).

I walked most of the way up. This probably saved myself from even more trouble!

I fueled well, taking a 150 calorie gel every 45 min with a 100 calorie gel in between - I had hardly any stomach issues or side stitch - a pleasant change from previous races. I didn't bonk either - I did feel tired on the few uphill stretches on the way down, but I didn't feel the need to walk on any downhill or flat stretches.

I did several things to salvage my race - I didn't give up, I reevaluated and set a new realistic goal at Barr Camp (which I met). And my downhill time was still 4 min faster than last year.

With my troubled musculature, I didn't push myself real hard at the end and didn't require any special medical attention. I didn't need IV's or stitches, and there were no puking episodes (as in a past notorious training run) - I actually felt fairly decent within about 45 min after finishing. The cool weather, especially at the finish, probably contribute to this pleasant result.

Things done wrong

Ultimately, I think my body was trying to send some subtle signs that it wasn't ready for peak performance - my resting HR had seemed a bit higher than normal in the week before the race, even on race day it was 59 (whereas this summer, 53 would have been more normal). I didn't feel sharp and recovered in the couple days before.

1. I didn't get enough sleep the 2 nights before the race - I stayed up too late packing gear, etc.

2. I didn't warm up sufficiently or stretch much before the race -- we were taking too many group pictures and socializing.

3. I tried new electrode crème for my heart rate monitor - it didn't like this and gave erroneous readings for first two miles - I was running HR-"blind" - although it did feel hard, so I could have guessed I was going too hard.

4. I just started too fast! I was maybe only 30-40 sec behind the front runners by the turn up Ruxton Avenue - I should have been more than a minute back for my goal time. Because of the lack of HR readings, I didn't back off fast enough and hard trouble recovering through the W's. It felt like I was working too hard for the pace I was going.

Fifth - when I finally did back off, it wasn't quite enough - my goal was to use a HR of 162 as a ceiling - instead I was consistently near 164, sometimes up to 166.

Sixth - I probably didn't drink enough water. I weighed myself after the race and apparently lost about 7 lbs - a significant level of dehydration. This along with my slightly too fast pace in the first 3 miles, probably is what contributed to my leg cramps. But upon researching, I find that the exact causes (and solutions) for muscle cramps are actually not well known or understood. Common sense would seem to indicate that muscles under extreme duress would be more susceptible to cramping, all other things being equal. My training run 3 weeks before the race went very well with almost no cramping - this was with no taper, minimal carboloading, and a very hard workout two days before! But it was at a slightly lower intensity, probably with more water, but less total energy intake. In this race, I think I did skimp a bit on the Endurolytes - I forgot to take some before the race and then I only took 2 in the first 45 min. Maybe a combination of the little things added up to muscles under extreme duress.

http://www.athletesadvisor.com/nutrition/cramps.html

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/leg_injuries/a/leg8.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/muscle_cramps/article.htm

Seventh - exceeded my HR ceiling again in the 2 miles below the top (in part to try to catch up with Dan who was about 3 min ahead). My Barr Camp - Top time was about 5 min faster than last year's time.

Eighth - my ankle gave out and I turned it pretty good - this slowed me down for about 5-10 min - it eventually felt better.

9. I cramped and fell, skinned my knees up (4th time this summer!).10.

10. I ran in shoes which were not completely right for me - the fit and feel is a bit off. Just a few small pebbles got in my right shoe - I tried to run with this, but after several miles, I had a pretty painful blister. When I finally did dump the rocks out, I cramped so badly I almost couldn't get the shoe back in. About this time, about 5 people whizzed past - along with my shot at an age group award. The blister forced me to change my mechanics, resulting in the shoe bruising my instep and torqueing my foot during the last 5 miles - rather painful.